The perils of being Protestant

Oklahoma Church of Christ congregation ignites theological wildfire by adding, horror of horrors, musical instruments to its services:

"A local Church of Christ's decision to add musical instruments to its worship service has struck a wrong note with other church members.
'I do not believe that God is anti-instruments. The arguments that attempt to prove that He is are not persuasive to me,' minister Mark Henderson said Wednesday.

"Other ministers and members of Churches of Christ have denounced the recent addition of instrumental music to the worship service at Henderson's Quail Springs Church of Christ.

"'There is no New Testament precedent for using instruments,' Glover Shipp, author and retired Oklahoma Christian University professor, said Wednesday."


Chaz replies: "And so there isn't. There is also no New Testament precedent for air conditioning, but not a lot of churches pass it up."

There is also no New Testament precedent for the Baptist system of church government, for meeting on Sundays, or for sermon-dominated services. Yet these are all typical among evangelicals.

There is no New Testament dictum that says ministers should wear suits, that choirs should be divided into basses, tenors, altos, and sopranos, or that church parking lots should have handicapped spaces. There is no obvious New Testament justification that says all churches should have "Family Life Centers", or that churches should be in hock up to their eyeballs to build these centers and so draw new congregants.

There is no New Testament precedent for saying absolutely everything we need to know is in the Bible.